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arXiv:1902.05308 · Physical Review Letters

Deterministic Single-Ion Implantation of Rare-Earth Ions for Nanometer-Resolution Color-Center Generation

Karin Groot-Berning, Thomas Kornher, Georg Jacob, Felix Stopp, Samuel T. Dawkins, Roman L. Kolesov, Jörg Wrachtrup, Kilian Singer, Ferdinand Schmidt‐Kaler

Published Sep 4, 2019• 72 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Single dopant atoms or dopant-related defect centers in a solid state matrix are of particular importance among the physical systems proposed for quantum computing and communication, due to their potential to realize a scalable architecture compatible with electronic and photonic integrated circuits. Here, using a deterministic source of single laser-cooled Pr^{+} ions, we present the fabrication of arrays of praseodymium color centers in yttrium-aluminum-garnet substrates. The beam of single Pr^{+} ions is extracted from a Paul trap and focused down to 30(9) nm. Using a confocal microscope, we determine a conversion yield into active color centers of up to 50% and realize a placement precision of 34 nm.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.123.106802

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Ion implantation is an accelerator-based technology used to create defects and introducing impurities into solid materials. A research and development study is currently underway toward ultrahigh-precision single-ion implantation using laser-cooling techniques at Takasaki Institute, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology. To achieve this, we incorporate a linear Paul trap as an ultracold single-ion source, where trapped ions can be made “Coulomb-crystallized” through Doppler laser cooling. In our scheme, nitrogen or silicon ions, useful for ion implantation to create color centers in materials, are sympathetically cooled through Coulomb collisions by co-trapping them with laser-cooled calcium ions to form a two-component crystal. These cold ions are then selectively extracted from the trap to be accelerated and focused through a 50-kV electrostatic bipotential-lens system. Our goal is to achieve beam focusing for ultrahigh-precision implantation on the order of 10 nm. The implanter system has already been assembled, and the commissioning is currently ongoing to enable single-ion extraction using a Coulomb crystal. In these proceedings, we describe the scheme for selective ion extraction and nanobeam focusing based on multiparticle simulations and briefly report recent progress in system implementation.
Rare-earth-doped laser materials show strong prospects for quantum information storage and processing, as well as for biological imaging, due to their high-Q 4f↔4f optical transitions. However, the inability to optically detect single rare-earth dopants has prevented these materials from reaching their full potential. Here we detect a single photostable Pr3+ ion in yttrium aluminium garnet nanocrystals with high contrast photon antibunching by using optical upconversion of the excited state population of the 4f↔4f optical transition into ultraviolet fluorescence. We also demonstrate on-demand creation of Pr3+ ions in a bulk yttrium aluminium garnet crystal by patterned ion implantation. Finally, we show generation of local nanophotonic structures and cell death due to photochemical effects caused by upconverted ultraviolet fluorescence of praseodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet in the surrounding environment. Our study demonstrates versatile use of rare-earth atomic-size ultraviolet emitters for nanoengineering and biotechnological applications. The optical transitions that occur in rare-earth-doped crystals offer promise for quantum information storage and processing. Kolesovet al.report the optical detection of a single praseodymium ion residing in a crystal host by using an excited-state absorption process to enhance its fluorescence yield.